News

Pioneering use of Twitter during the 'Year of Faith'

A new way to teach the Catholic Faith and to encourage people to read the Bible is being piloted on Twitter - the social media micro-blogging tool.

@YoFtweets is a daily service that is being provided by the Catholic Bishops’ Department for Evangelisation and Catechesis, in partnership with Bible Society.

Throughout the Year of Faith (11 October 2012 – 24 November 2013), followers will be led through the documents of the Second Vatican Council, with related extracts from the Bible being offered, as well as quotes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and from some Saints.

Bishop Kieran Conry, Chair of the Department for Evangelisation and Catechesis, said:

"This is the first time that the Department has been involved in a project to use Twitter to offer a scheme of catechetical material. We hope that, especially for very busy people, it will provide an easily accessible daily encouragement to grow in faith and to share it. Please do 'follow' and share it with your friends."

Supported by the Bishops' Home Mission Desk, over 400 tweets have been prepared and, where possible, the material complements the liturgical seasons. Quotes in Lent, for example, are designed to help followers to prepare for Easter.

Bishop Conry added:

"We hope that by reading the material on Twitter people might be inspired to read more of the documents, the Bible and the Catechism. The Twitter initiative is, we hope, a helpful starting point for people."

Catholic Bible Sunday

The promotion of the tweets comes ahead of a second national initiative concerning Scripture which is called 'Bible Sunday' and falls on 9 December.